page_title: Ottawa River timber trade
section_title: Markets
hierarchical_section_title: Ottawa River timber trade / Markets
caption_attribution_description: English: Insurance plan of the city of Ottawa, Canada, and adjoining suburbs and lumber districts, January 1888, revised January 1901. This is sheet number 2 of 113 sheets. Accompanying these was:i) A label indicating the plan is "The property of the Western Assurance Company" and that "These plans are prepared by Chas. E. Goad, Civil Engineer".
context_page_description: The Ottawa River timber trade, also known as the Ottawa Valley timber trade or Ottawa River lumber trade, was the nineteenth century production of wood products by Canada on areas of the Ottawa River destined for British and American markets. It was the major industry of the historical colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada and it created an entrepreneur known as a lumber baron. The trade in squared timber and later sawed lumber led to population growth and prosperity to communities in the Ottawa Valley, especially the city of Bytown. The product was chiefly red and white pine. The industry lasted until around 1900 as both markets and supplies decreased.
  The industry came about following Napoleon's 1806 Continental Blockade in Europe causing the United Kingdom to require a new source for timber especially for its navy and shipbuilding. Later the U.K.'s application of gradually increasing preferential tariffs increased Canadian imports. The first part of the industry, the trade in squared timber lasted until about the 1850s. The transportation for the raw timber was first by means of floating down the Ottawa River, proved possible in 1806 by Philemon Wright.
context_section_description: Upper and Lower Canada's major industry in terms of employment and value of the product was the timber trade.  The largest supplier of square red and white pine to the British market originated from the Ottawa River and the Ottawa Valley had "rich red and white pine forests".  Bytown (later called Ottawa) was a major lumber and sawmill centre of Canada.
  In 1806, Napoleon ordered a blockade to European ports, blocking Britain's access to timber required for the navy from the Baltic Sea.  The British naval shipyards were desperately in need of lumber.
  British tariff concessions fostered the growth of the Canadian timber trade.  The British government instituted the tariff on the importation of foreign timber in 1795 in need of alternate sources for its navy and to promote the industry in its North American colonies.  The "Colonial Preference" was first 10 shillings per load, increasing to 25 in 1805 and after Napoleon's blockade ended, it was increased to 65 in 1814.
  In 1821 the tariff was reduced to 55 shillings and was abolished in 1842.  The United Kingdom resumed its trade in Baltic timber.  The change in Britain's tariff preferences was a result of Britain moving to Free Trade in 1840.  The 1840s saw a gradual move from protectionism in Great Britain
  When the Ottawa River first began to be used for floating timber en route to markets, squared timber was the preference by the British for resawing, and it "became the main export".  Britain imported 15,000 loads of timber from Canada in 1805, and from the colonies, 30,000 in 1807, and nearly 300,000 in 1820.
  The reciprocity treaty of 1854 allowed for duty-free export of Ottawa Valley's lumber into the United States.  Both the market was changing, as well as the entrepreneurs running the businesses.
  An American September 30, 1869 statement showed that lumber was, by far Canada's biggest export to the U.S.  Here are the top 3 (The definition of "Canada" for some reason, had Quebec in a separate category):
  lumber: 424,232,087 feet, $4,761,357.
  iron, pig: 26,881 do, $536,662
  sheep: 228,914, $524,639
  Also in 1869, about a third of the lumber manufactured at Ottawa was shipped to foreign countries, and the area employed 6000 men in cutting and rafting logs, about 5,500 in the preparation of squared timber for European markets, and about 5,000 at the mills in Ottawa.
  Somewhere between 1848 and 1861, a large increase in the number of sawmills in "the town" had occurred:
  1845: 601 houses and 3 saw mills
  1848: 1019 houses and 2 saw mills
  1861: 2104 dwellings and 12 saw mills
  Here is the production of some companies in 1873, M feet of lumber and number of employees and their 1875 address listed, where available.
  J.R. Booth, 40, 400, Albert Island, Chaudier
  Bronsons & Weston [Lumber Company], 40, 400, Victoria Island (incorrectly listed as Bronson & Weston)
  Gilmour & Co. 40, 500-1000, 22 Bank (numbers were listed with Gilmore & Co.)
  E.B. Eddy, 40, 1700 (this includes mostly non-lumber activities)
  Perley & Pattee, 30, 275, 105 Chaudiere
  A.H. Baldwin, 25, 200, Victoria Island
  J. Maclaren & Co., 20, 150, 6 Sussex (address listed as J. MacLaren & Co.)
  Wright, Batson & Currier 17, 250 (only listing for address was Batson & Carrier)
  Levi Young, 16, 100, Victoria Island Chaudiere (Numbers listed him as Capt. Young's mill.)
  Total here: 228 million feet(sic).
  The 1875 lumber merchants list had Jos Aumond, Batson & Carrier, Bennett, Benson & Co., H. B. D. Bruce, T. C. Brougham, T. W. Currier & Co., G. B. Hall, Hamilton & Bros., J. T. Lambert, Moses W. Linton, M. McDougall, John Moir, Isaac Moore, Robert Nagle, R. Ryan, Albert W. Soper, Wm. Stubbs and
  Wm. Mackey, 99 Daly, Robert Skead, 288 Sparks, Hon. James Skead, 262 Wellington, William Skead, 10 Bell, Joseph Smith, 286 Sussex
caption: Map of the City of Ottawa Insurance Plan, 1888–1901 with business names and locations indicated.
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